Perhaps the only thing that changes more rapidly than technology in today's amped-up digital environment is the terminology used to describe that technology and its impact on consumers--and marketers. One recent example is the advent of the term "omnichannel" marketing, which many struggle to differentiate from another relatively recent term--"multichannel" marketing. Still, those who are most enmeshed in the field say there is a key distinction between the two, and it's one that will have an impact on marketers as they continue to seek ways of having a meaningful impact on the consumers they hope to engage. And, importantly, it's less about technology than it may seem.

2013-2014 EContent 100 Judges and Categories

Meet the EContent 100 Judging Team

Scott Abel, aka "The Content Wrangler," is a content management strategist and social media choreographer with strengths in helping organizations improve the way they author, maintain, publish, and archive their information assets.

Robert J. Boeri is an independent consultant in the Washington, D.C., area. He has more than 30 years of experience as a publishing and content management systems professional in both the private and public sectors.

Barbara Brynko is the former editorial director and editor-in-chief of Information Today, where she also wrote and tracked trends and issues in the information industry.

Theresa Cramer is the editor of EContent magazine and Intranets newsletter. She is a 10-year veteran of the publishing industry with a background in both newspaper and book publishing.

Ron Miller is a freelance technology journalist, a contributing editor at EContent magazine, and a blogger at Internet Evolution and TechTarget where he writes the View From Above blog. He is also the editor of FierceContentManagement and co-founder of socmedianews.com.

Marydee Ojala edits Online Searcher and writes its business research column, The Dollar Sign. She is responsible for program planning for Web Search University and Internet Librarian International.

Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen is editor of Streaming Media magazine, StreamingMedia.com, and OnlineVideo.net. A technology and entertainment journalist for more than 20 years, his work has appeared in Village Voice,

EContent 100 Categories

Content CommerceGrease must be applied to the wheels of commerce lest they squeak-nay, grind-to a halt. When what is being bought and sold is measured in bits and bytes, solutions that enable the buying and selling of digital content are there to keep the transactions humming smoothly along. Here we include solutions that enable the buying and selling of digital content, including digital rights management (DRM) and payment systems, as well as digital ad networks.

Content CreationFormerly the purview of the privileged few with access to a printing press, creating content is everyone's business today. Luckily, tools keep cropping up that help us create it, convert it, use it, and-most importantly-reuse it in ways as varied as the people creating the content in the first place.

Digital Content ProviderWhat would the digital publishing world be without the content providers? Whether they do it for free, for a fee, or somewhere in between, it's the providers that are on the content frontiers-bringing readers quality news, information, and entertainment when, where, and how they need it.

Distribution & DeliveryThe avenues by which content can travel are myriad. Figuring out which roads are right for your content-especially if you're looking to get paid-can be a journey in itself. Without the help of distribution and delivery networks and tools, many publishers' jobs would be exponentially harder. Here we honor the companies that create new paths and opportunities for digital content to find its way to our inboxes, web browsers, mobile devices, and even our televisions.

Mobile ContentSee all those smartphones? Yep, people are doing a lot more than talking on them. These days-from cellphones to tablets and e-readers-content gets around. Mobile content and delivery devices put information in the hands of users when and where they need it. As content today travels across platforms, we will focus on the technologies that help make it go.

Search & AnalyticsWhat good is digital content if you can't find it? Publishers need an audience; otherwise, they become the proverbial tree falling in the woods. Here we include the companies that help digital publishers navigate the jungle of SEO and fine-tune the content to grab the most views.

Social MediaThe web has opened up a world of opportunity for readers to become writers, reviewers, and producers. Here we look at the tools that help proliferate the vox populi and increasingly act as mediators between people and the content we publish.

Web Content ManagementWhat would digital publishers do without good web content management (WCM) systems? While content management purports to be all things to all people, its true power may actually lie in its flexibility to change shape to fit each new business problem set before it. With the constantly changing demands of digital publishing, WCM systems need to be more nimble than ever.